In late January, I gathered up the fellas for a quick day trip explore the sand dunes of the central California coast. Eric and Noel met me up in Oxnard, California and we headed north towards Pismo Beach. The day’s forecast was gray with a chance of rain in the evening so I wasn’t expecting a day of epic golden hour light. Either way it was going to be fun catching up with the guys.

On previous trips up to Big Sur, Eric and I had seen these amazing trees all along the road up the coast. We had talked about trying to look for compositions in the area many times. Unfortunately, there really aren’t any places to pull over to look for compositions given it’s a pretty busy road. On this trip we decided to make an audible and turn off the main road and explore some of the backcountry roads to see what we can see before continuing up north.

On one of the side roads, we found a little area to park maybe half a mile up a dirt road. We explored around a bit looking for potential compositions. It reminded me of a scene from one of my favorite childhood movies, “Stand by Me.” There were trees everywhere along this dirt road. We were far enough in where it was an amazing quiet. From a photography standpoint, it was quite a visually busy area and honestly was really challenging finding an interesting composition.

I found one composition of an old tree with a really interesting branch that ran from left to right. The scene had this protective and sheltering feel to it that really spoke to me. It was as though this tree was part of the Old Guard that protected the area. I imagine this tree had amazing stories of years past to share. The sun suddenly broke through and lit up the grass below as well as the warm tones of the leaves on the tree. The scene quickly came alive for a quick minute. I was able to make two frames before the clouds hid the Old Guard’s story once again. I had made a few other compositions in the area but this one was the one that resonated most with me.

After we had finished exploring the area, we continued back on the main road north. As we got a little farther north we made another audible to explore another side road, this time to east.

We ran into an area with beautiful rolling hills and Oak trees. There were quite a few compositions that caught my eye in the area as we were driving through. So many rolling hills and Oak Trees. After driving around the area, we circled back to an area that really caught our eye earlier on the drive.

I found a few compositions that morning but there is one scene that really stood out to me. It was a scene of an army of Oak Trees coming down the hillside. In the foreground was three Oak Trees leading the group. Unlike the Oak trees in the background, these three had no leaves on them whatsoever. The uniqueness of the scene really caught my attention.

“The Three Wise Men” | Central California

It was a blessing experiencing the beautiful backcountry areas. We each walked away with some good memories of both areas and the images were a definitely a plus. Below are a few other frames I made in the area.

After our exploration of the backcountry roads Eric, Noel and I continued on to our main destination, the sand dunes of Pismo Beach. More on that portion of our road trip next time.

Have a great weekend everyone. - Marco

Sketchbook

The Unknown Road Part 1: The Forest